Gallery: 14 Quick and Easy Cheese Dip Variations

Ready for some cheese?

Classic Cheese Sauce

Our version of Homemade Cheese Sauce solves the problem of grainy bechamel-based sauces by using a combination of evaporated milk and corn starch as the base. And it couldn't be simpler: toss your cheese in the starch, cook it in the milk, and stir until it's thick. All the flavor of real cheese, and all the gooiness of a good cheese sauce. It's the perfect base for...

Chipotle and Pork Rind Dip

Smoky chipotles are great mixed into cheese dip on their own (simply adding some chopped chipotles from a can to Velveeta is a major step up from the pre-packaged chipotle flavored dips), and adding crunched up pork rinds to it is... it's a beautiful thing. Let's leave it at that. The crunched up rinds soften in the dip, turning into tender nuggets of pork fat, while serving fresh crunchy ones on the side for dipping all adds up to double trouble.

Classic Spinach and Artichoke Dip

For a near instant party, just combine a cup of thawed frozen spinach and a cup of roughly chopped marinated artichoke hearts with a couple cups of cheese sauce. If you want to go all fancy-pants (like we did), you can start with fresh spinach simply wilted in a pan with a little water. (Even the microwave will do.)

Muffa-Queso

We went through a whole slew of potential names for this Muffaletta sandwich/queso dip mash-up (some names are dirtier sounding than others), but fact remains that it's delicious. Fry a quart pound of diced pancetta and salami in olive oil until crisp, add a half cup or so of mixed chopped olives, capers, and giardiniera with parsley, then stir the whole thing into your cheese dip, garnishing with some crispy pancetta bits.

The Breakfast Monster

So you like to dip your tater tots in cheese sauce? Well here we reverse the ratio and add some bacon and jalapeño for good measure. Fry off a quarter pound of thinly sliced bacon until crispy in a non-stick skillet, then add a few broken up tater tots or frozen hash-brown patties and cook, breaking them up until crispy. Stir it all into the cheese dip with some diced jalapeño. Dipping potato into potato never tasted so good.

Chicken Chili Verde Dip

Bottled store-bought salsa verde mixed in equal parts with cheese dip, along with some chopped cilantro and jalapeños. If you want to meat-en it up a bit, add shredded store-bought roast chicken (or if you've got your own leftover chicken, all the better). Serve hot with corn chips.

Chorizo and Black Bean Queso Dip

Start by frying nuggets of Mexican chorizo in a skillet until crisp and rendered, then mix it all together with some drained, canned black beans and some chopped pickled jalapeños. Garnish it all with chopped cilantro, lime, and jalapeño.

Chili Cheese Dip

The classics are often the best. A can of chili (or homemade if you prefer), coupled with cheese sauce can't really be beat. I like to garnish mine with sliced scallions.

Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Dip

It's remarkable how a little goat cheese can transform generic cheese dip into something that actually tastes a little fancied up. Caramelized onions (which you can make in under half an hour using this method) ratchet the whole deal up into something that, well, is so fancy it needs to be served in a martini glass. Think of it as hot onion dip. Or perhaps dippable French onion soup. Or just think of it as awesomely delicious.

Roasted Garlic and Roasted Red Peppers

Recipe for delicious: Toss a couple red peppers and a whole head of garlic with olive oil, then roast it in a 375°F oven until everything is tender. Squeeze the garlic out of its skin, peel and chope the pepper, stir it into cheese dip, then dig in.

Leek and Mushroom Dip

Chopped mushrooms sauteed in butter until brown and flavorful are perfect partners in crime with sauteed leeks. Cheese sauce is simply the glue that binds the two together in everlasting happiness.

Meat Lovers Pizza Dip

All the flavors of a meat-lovers pie in dippable form. Start by sauteeing crumbled Italian sausage, sliced pepperoni, and ham in olive oil until cooked through, then dump in a drained can of diced tomatoes. Stir the whole mixture into your cheese sauce, garnish with basil, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, and you've got everything but the crust.

Double-Spicy Bean and Cheese Dip

Combine some canned refried bean along with some chopped pickled jalapeños and sliced fresh jalapeños, then fill it out with a sh*t-ton of chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

Cheeseburger Dip

Another classic, the simplest version of this one is just browned ground beef, a can of drained Ro*Tel tomatoes (fire roasted diced tomatoes will do fine), and some sliced scallions. For a more complex version with roatsed chilis and cumin, check out the recipe here.

Comments

ADD A COMMENT

PREVIEW YOUR COMMENT

HTML Hints

Comment Guidelines

Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more in the Comment Policy section of our Terms of Use page.